The Old Songs Beckon to Banjo Band Fans

Wednesdays are traditionally slow in the restaurant business. But ever since the San Fernando Banjo Band decided to hold “practice” sessions at the Beef ‘n’ Barrel in Northridge every Wednesday night, the restaurant has been packed. “Now, there’s standing room only,” said band director George Yellich.

Band members don’t play the latest Top-40 hits. “We play old songs and older songs,” said Yellich. “We started the band back in 1970 for one reason only, and that’s to have fun.”

The band started out playing for free, but as it became better-known, members agreed to accept fees for performances. Instead of using the money for themselves, the band decided to contribute its earnings to charity; thus far, the Los Angeles Crippled Children’s Society in Culver City has received $30,000. The band has also established a scholarship fund at CSUN for musicians who decide they want to take up the banjo.

This year’s scholarship winner, Keith Calmes, is also the band’s youngest member (he’s 22), but most of the 21 other members are retired. The average age is about 65.

The oldest member is 91-year-old Tod Waterman, whose favorite saying, according to Yellich, is, “Get yourself a banjo and you’ll stay young like me.”

“It seems like the banjo is something you pick up after you have more time on your hands,” Yellich said, but he managed to find the time to learn how to play in 1965, when he was a mortgage banker and raising a family. “I love it,” he said. “It’s the sound of happiness. It makes people smile and their feet start tapping.”

Yellich is constantly suggesting that listeners try the banjo for themselves. “Most people think it’s a very hard instrument to play,” he said. “But the banjo is very easy to learn. It only has four strings instead of six, like a guitar.”

You can hear the band at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in North Hollywood on the second and fourth Sunday of each month, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., and every Wednesday night at the Beef ‘n’ Barrel restaurant in Northridge from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.